Beer Wars

Truth: There was a time a long time ago when I thought I didn’t like beer.

Fact: It wasn’t beer I didn’t like, it was the mass produced light lager that came from a keg that didn’t strike my fancy.

Natty Light, Miller High Life, Bud Light… Bad

Small craft beers that actually have flavor… Good

Catch my drift? 😉

Per Matt’s (Kath’s Husband’s) recommendation Derek and I watched the documentary Beer Wars thanks to NetFlix tonight. The film was a great look into the world of small craft brewers and the ‘big three’ that try to take them down.

Did you know what the Bud, Miller, and Coors make up more than 90% of the beer market? And that the other 10% are made up of the 1800 brewers out there? Or that Sam Adam’s makes up less than 1% of that share? Craziness!

Beer Wars was a film that made you think. If you love beer, then watch this film – it will make you think twice next time you pick up a 6 pack at your local supermarket.

Speaking of beer….

I was encouraged to open a seasonal Blue Moon during the movie.

Only after a little Wikipedia searching I discovered Blue Moon is produced by Molson Coors Brewing Company (formerly Coors Brewing Company) aka one of ‘The Big 3.’ Dang it.

I do try to purchase the smaller brewing companies when i can. I would rather spend more $$ on a great bottle of beer any day of the week. 🙂

Before the movie I got to work prepping my side dish for tomorrow’s company picnic.

Thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions I decided a Butternut Squash + Quinoa dish was the was the way to go.

After a little fridge surveying here’s what I came up with:

1 Red Onion (Diced)

4 cups Water

2 cup Quinoa

1 cup Raisins

2 T Pumpkin Spice

Spread the onion and butternut squash on a baking sheet and bake at 415 for 20 minutes. While that is baking bring the water and quinoa to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Combine the squash with the quinoa, raisins, and pumpkin spice. Enjoy.

It was simple, quick, and I already had all the ingredients on hand. 😉

Now, I couldn’t served my co-workers an experimental dish without trying it myself, right? 😉 I stole a small serving of my Butternut Squash Quinoa for dinner tonight.

With a bed of kale and left over mashed sweet potato on the bottoms and baked tofu and parmesan cheese on top it was quite a tasty meal.

It tasted just like fall. Again, so easy yet so delicious to create. I hope my co-workers love it too!

I suppose I should be proposing marriage to Mama Pea for dessert tonight? 😉

Annie the Baker’s Cookie Dough Balls are always a crowd favorite at the Foodbuzz Taste Pavilion. The baked balls of cookie dough heaven melt in your mouth and leave you coming back for more and more (and we did 😉 ).

I was actually standing next to Mama Pea at this year’s pavilion when she announced her goal of recreating the famous Cookie Dough Balls. Well, obviously this was a goal she was determined to keep because no even a week later she had a recipe up ready to go.

So, of course, I had to attempt it myself.

Only I didn’t get it quite right. I used regular butter instead of vegan margarine and instead of being a smooth wet dough, it was dry and crumbly. I had to add a little water to make it stick, but the texture was still off when all was said and done.

Don’t worry these still tasted AMAZING (like OMG AMAZING!), but the cookie fell apart as we ate it. Totally my fault. I guess this answers the question that there really is a big difference between real butter and the vegan stuff. 😉

I’m definitely going to watch this Beer Wars movie. My boyfriend and I are huge craft beer fans, and Sam Adams is usually my go-to beer when I am out at a bar.

Thanks for letting us know about Mama Pea’s cookie dough balls and the difference with real butter! I was going to attempt to make them myself with real butter, but now I think I’ll go out and buy the vegan version!Chelsea @ Strawberry Sweat recently posted..Rough Week

If you think beer choices are tough there, you should try up in Canada! People are VERY big brand loyal to their beer (hellooooo hosers :P) and microbeers barely exist! …Good thing I was brought up enjoying those big brands….MMmm…. Ricard’s Red… 🙂Becky at flybynyght recently posted..That’s hot…

I’m forever grateful to live in a state that dominates in the microbrewery (and coffee for that matter) industry. I don’t know how available they are in Orlando area but here’s a decent list of Oregon beers to check out:http://www.blogaboutbeer.com/10-oregon-beers-you-need-to-try/ From that list, I HIGHLY recommend any beers from Ninkasi, Deschutes, and Rogue. Hope they’re available to you in Flordia!

I also tried making them with real butter, and had the same result as you with the dough. I added some veg. oil to try to get a better “dough” consistency, and mine still turned out like balls, but I definitely don’t think I got it right. I’ll have to try again with the Earth Balance…

Beer bottlers/distributors (like soda/juice distributors) are typically franchised so they are privately owned. Also, their employees and all the parts in their chain support a community – might not be your’s but it’s someone else’s who does benefit.

I try to be local but living in Rochester, NY we’re pretty limited throughout the year. I’ve made my peace with my regular purchases and think about the big picture.

I have seen beer wars it was good. My favorite brewery is Brooklyn Brewery, they have good beer and they use wind to power their brewery. If you can find them I would suggest you try it. 🙂Sarah @ EatRunGarden recently posted..I miss the sun

I didn’t realize Molson & Coors had merged! I’m pretty sure Molson was on its own back in the early 2000s when up in Western NY we bought Molson Canadian as a good drinkable but not expensive beer. (Above Natty Ice, Coors Light, etc). Most of the beer we get now here in NJ, is from smaller breweries in the surrounding area, so I don’t really feel bad about the occasional Blue Moon.

I’m glad I’m not the only person who thought they didn’t like beer, but it was really just bad tasting beer. I live in St. Louis, home of one of the Big 3, but we also have so many amazing microbreweries in the area that I hardly drink Budweiser products. In fact, my FIL refuses to drink anything that is one of the Big 3… and I think I am starting to lean more in that direction. Thanks for the info on the movie! My hubs and I will definitely be trying to find that!

There was also a time when I didn’t like beer. I could only stomach the nasty sugary mixed drinks or the ‘beer energy drinks’. Then I met my fiance and he is quickly turning me into a beer snob…Nicole @bodybybeer recently posted..Farmers Market

Hey Meghann! I am quite obsessed with craft beers, and super stoked about a show that premieres this Sunday at 10pm on Discovery called “BrewMasters”. It follows the owner of Dogfish Head craft brewery (my fav Delaware brewery!) in the life of beer making and around the world to get inspiration for new beers and ingredients. It’s supposed to be awesome! If you are interested, def. check it out!Katie G (http://justrollwithitblog.blogspot.com) recently posted..Is it Wrong

I made Mama Pea’s cookie dough balls last week! I used butter and they came out perfectly (but I also used all white flour because I don’t have whole wheat pastry flour–perhaps that’s why? Or–sorry to assume, but I’m being thorough–did you use whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour? That would have made a difference). I’m sorry they didn’t work for you. Yeah, my dough was crumbly like yours, so I added milk. Yours still look delicious, though!